Garvin’S Runs Through Town Volleyball Tournament Undefeated

The town-sponsored 2011 Coed Volleyball Tournament is in the record books as an overwhelming success.

More than a week of action in the postseason fray wrapped up Dec. 14 in Rim Country Middle School gymnasium with No. 1 seeded Garvin’s Towing accomplishing what everyone anticipated — walking away with the gold medal and a perfect tournament record.

In winning top honors, Garvin’s edged Dig It in the finale.

Dig It entered the tournament as a No. 3 seed, but lost to No. 2 Paradise Nails in a tournament opener on Dec. 7.

Also on the first day of the tournament, Paradise Nails advanced with a win over No. 4 Payson Regional Medical Center. PRMC had earlier eliminated Off the Wall.

On Dec. 12, Garvin’s whipped Paradise Nails to send the team into the losers’ bracket and Dig It eliminated PRMC dealing the MASH crew their second loss.

Just two days later, Dig It, captained by Bill Holly, eliminated Paradise Nails leaving just the two finalists to meet in the gold medal game.

Beeler played collegiately at Northern Arizona University and Ibarra starred at Cameron University in Oklahoma.

With the volleyball tournament at an end, the Rim Country’s weekend warriors will turn their attention to the town-hosted Adult Men’s Basketball League.

Registration opens Jan. 9 and continues to Jan. 30.

The fee is $300 per team.

Play begins Feb. 6 and will continue each Wednesday evening until April 19.

All games will be played in Rim Country Middle School gymnasium and participants must be 18 years of age.

The league is limited to eight teams and rosters may have no more than 10 players.

At the conclusion of the regular season, a double-elimination championship tournament will be held.

Softball next

Also on the upcoming town sports agenda is the ASA Coed Softball League set to hold registration March 26 to April 11.

Games will be played April 16 to June 5 at Rumsey II ball field.

In addition to regular season play, the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department will host a season-ending, double-elimination championship tournament.

Players must be at least 16 years of age.

The fee is $300 per team, but will be reduced to $275 with proof of ASA registration.

ASA softball was huge in Payson for many years, but after former ASA commissioner Ted Pettet and later is son Teddy, also an ASA commissioner, stepped down, local tournaments fell by the wayside.

ASA softball returned to Payson last summer when the town hosted a highly successful girls state fast-pitch tournament.

The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) is a volunteer driven, not-for-profit organization based in Oklahoma City, Okla. It was founded in 1933 and has evolved into the dominant softball organization in the country.

In Arizona, Prescott is widely considered the ASA softball capital of the state. There, Don Fishel — a former Town of Payson recreation coordinator — hosts year-round tournaments for players of all ages and genders.

Youth sports

Registration for the annual Town of Payson third- and fourth-grade Coed Basketball League begins Jan. 3 and continues until Jan. 25.

Games will be played on Saturdays from Feb. 11 to March 10 in the RCMS gymnasium. The registration fee is $30 per player.

Town officials promote the league as an “opportunity to learn the basic fundamentals of basketball and the opportunity to play in games every Saturday.”

In the third- and fourth-grade league no score is kept to keep the games a recreational, educational and low stress athletic experience, town officials say.

Also the league baskets are lowered from 10 to 8.5 feet from the floor.